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The study describes the current state of knowledge on nanotechnology and its utilization in medicine. The focus in this manuscript was on the properties, usage safety, and potentially valuable applications of chitosan-based nanomaterials. Chitosan nanoparticles have high importance in nanomedicine, biomedical engineering, discovery and development of new drugs. The manuscript reviewed the new studies regarding the use of chitosan-based nanoparticles for creating new release systems with improved bioavailability, increased specificity and sensitivity, and reduced pharmacological toxicity of drugs. Nowadays, effective cancer treatment is a global problem, and recent advances in nanomedicine are of great importance. Special attention was put on the application of chitosan nanoparticles in developing new system for anticancer drug delivery. Pre-clinical and clinical studies support the use of chitosan-based nanoparticles in nanomedicine. This manuscript overviews the last progresses regarding the utilization, stability, and bioavailability of drug nanoencapsulation with chitosan and their safety.

Genistein is an isoflavone first isolated from the brooming plant Dyer’s Genista tinctoria L. and is widely distributed in the Fabaceae family. As an isoflavone, mammalian genistein exerts estrogen-like functions. Several biological effects of genistein have been reported in preclinical studies, such as the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral activities, the effects of angiogenesis and estrogen, and the pharmacological activities on diabetes and lipid metabolism. The purpose of this review is to provide up-to-date evidence of preclinical pharmacological activities with mechanisms of action, bioavailability, and clinical evidence of genistein. The literature was researched using the most important keyword “genistein” from the PubMed, Science, and Google Scholar databases, and the taxonomy was validated using The Plant List. Data were also collected from specialized books and other online resources. The main positive effects of genistein refer to the protection against cardiovascular diseases and to the decrease of the incidence of some types of cancer, especially breast cancer. Although the mechanism of protection against cancer involves several aspects of genistein metabolism, the researchers attribute this effect to the similarity between the structure of soy genistein and that of estrogen. This structural similarity allows genistein to displace estrogen from cellular receptors, thus blocking their hormonal activity. The pharmacological activities resulting from the experimental studies of this review support the traditional uses of genistein, but in the future, further investigations are needed on the efficacy, safety, and use of nanotechnologies to increase bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy.

Paclitaxel is a broad-spectrum anticancer compound, which was derived mainly from a medicinal plant, in particular, from the bark of the yew tree Taxus brevifolia Nutt. It is a representative of a class of diterpene taxanes, which are nowadays used as the most common chemotherapeutic agent against many forms of cancer. It possesses scientifically proven anticancer activity against, e.g., ovarian, lung, and breast cancers. The application of this compound is difficult because of limited solubility, recrystalization upon dilution, and cosolvent-induced toxicity. In these cases, nanotechnology and nanoparticles provide certain advantages such as increased drug half-life, lowered toxicity, and specific and selective delivery over free drugs. Nanodrugs possess the capability to buildup in the tissue which might be linked to enhanced permeability and retention as well as enhanced antitumour influence possessing minimal toxicity in normal tissues. This article presents information about paclitaxel, its chemical structure, formulations, mechanism of action, and toxicity. Attention is drawn on nanotechnology, the usefulness of nanoparticles containing paclitaxel, its opportunities, and also future perspective. This review article is aimed at summarizing the current state of continuous pharmaceutical development and employment of nanotechnology in the enhancement of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features of paclitaxel as a chemotherapeutic agent.

BackgroundThis study aimed to quantify the active biological compounds in C. officinalis flowers. Based on the active principles and biological properties of marigolds flowers reported in the literature, we sought to obtain and characterize the molecular composition of extracts prepared using different solvents. The antioxidant capacities of extracts were assessed by using spectrophotometry to measure both absorbance of the colorimetric free radical scavenger 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) as well as the total antioxidant potential, using the ferric reducing power (FRAP) assay.ResultsSpectrophotometric assays in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) region enabled identification and characterization of the full range of phenolic and flavonoids acids, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to identify and quantify phenolic compounds (depending on the method of extraction). Methanol ensured more efficient extraction of flavonoids than the other solvents tested.Antioxidant activity in methanolic extracts was correlated with the polyphenol content.ConclusionsThe UV-VIS spectra of assimilator pigments (e.g. chlorophylls), polyphenols and flavonoids extracted from the C. officinalis flowers consisted in quantitative evaluation of compounds which absorb to wavelengths broader than 360 nm.